Blauert on Outdoors: Exploring the North Rim of Yosemite Valley

During fire season, travel and outdoor plans have to be flexible. With all the fires currently burning in the state, many areas are smoky and some are closed.

Smoke doesn’t necessarily ruin a trip – it depends on how much there is and what you were planning to do.

If you’re planning a mountain trip, you can check conditions by calling national parks and national forests for conditions or checking their websites, especially the webcams that provide up-to-date images, and using http://www.caltrans.ca.gov/ to check for highway closures like the current closure of Highway 180 to Kings Canyon due to the Rough Fire.

While fires continue to rage, the disruption of travel plans is nothing compared to the destruction of habitat, property and homes. All of us who love the outdoors are saddened by the losses and thankful for the firefighters who are working to get these infernos under control.

At the beginning of August, I backpacked the North Rim of Yosemite Valley. From high points along the trail we could see smoke from two small fires – one a controlled burn and the other a lightning-caused fire that was being monitored and allowed to burn. Although they weren’t far away, they didn’t have an impact on our trip.

Fire was one of many impressive sights we saw from the North Rim. Having visited North Dome on a previous trip, this time we aimed ourselves toward the other two great viewpoints: Eagle Peak and El Capitan. That’s right, you can get to the top of El Cap without having to be a rock climber.

The North Rim is less popular than the South Rim because there aren’t any drive-to viewpoints (like Glacier Point) or short trails to views (like Sentinel Dome). There also aren’t as many views along the trail as there are along the South Rim, but the three major ones are very good. Eagle Peak was my favorite of the two we saw on this trip (No. 3, North Dome, is further east, and also has an impressive view).

We were able to camp near Eagle Peak and watch the sunset and the alpenglow on Half Dome and the surrounding skyline. The top of El Cap – which looks flat from the floor of Yosemite Valley – is actually surprisingly rounded. There isn’t really an edge to look over – the curve just gets steeper and steeper until it’s unsafe to go any further, but the views are still impressive.

There are three ways to reach the top of El Cap and Eagle Peak by trail:

▪ 1. From the bottom of Yosemite Valley via the steep and exposed Yosemite Falls Trail – a 2,800-foot climb.

▪ 2. From the Tamarack Flat Campground – not as hard but still more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain.

▪ 3. From the Yosemite Creek Campground – with much less elevation gain and loss than the other routes.

We took the third option. The trail follows Yosemite Creek on a gradual downhill for 5.3 miles to a trail junction. It’s unspectacular but pleasant. At the junction, it’s an additional 1.2 miles round trip to see the top of Yosemite Falls – worth a bit of extra work, even if you’ve been there before.

Back at the junction, it’s another 2.7 miles to the top of Eagle Peak. The trail climbs about 900 feet, and the view is spectacular. The summit offers a panorama that includes the east end of Yosemite Valley and broad views across much of the rest of the park.

The top of El Capitan is another 3.1 miles further, making this trip too long for most people to do in a day. The biggest challenge, though, is the lack of water sources beyond the point where you leave Yosemite Creek. The creek was at very low flow by the time we visited, and the next water source we found was a trickling spring along the creek about a half mile before El Capitan. By carrying extra water bottles and filling up at the creek, we were able to camp near Eagle Peak and refill the next morning at the spring.

Unless you’re interested in seeing a lesser-known part of the park that is mostly forested and without broad views, it’s not necessary to follow the trail to Tamarack Campground, as we did. We left a car at each end instead of backtracking to Yosemite Creek. Point to point, this makes a trip of about 20.5 miles. I recommend starting at Yosemite Creek, hiking to Eagle Peak and El Capitan, and then returning the same way. This is a distance of 24.6 miles and could be a moderate two- or three-night backpacking trip.

Yosemite Creek Campground is a peaceful spot, 4 miles off the Tioga Road. It’s far less crowded than other places in the park, and campsites are often available when other campgrounds are full. The road down to the campground is pretty rough, though. It’s part of the old Tioga Road and hasn’t been repaved. These days, it has several deep holes. It isn’t posted “high clearance strongly recommended,” but I think it should be. It’s hard to travel without scraping the bottom of your vehicle unless you have a truck or SUV.

Despite the relative proximity of the North Rim to the developed areas of Yosemite Valley, it really does feel like wilderness. Even on the busiest weekends this section of trail sees far fewer people than most other areas of the park.

If you want to see Yosemite Valley in a new way, Eagle Peak and El Capitan are great places to do so.

For information about the wilderness permits required for overnight hikes in Yosemite, go to http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm or call 209-372-0740.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Blauert on Outdoors: Exploring the North Rim of Yosemite Valley."